Trip Report – Southern Adventure January 2014

It’s not a circus without a few clowns, right?

Pam & Mike’s Southern Adventure 2014

Jump to:

Day 1: On the road from Terrebonne to Laughlin
Day 2: Pig-in-a-poke and how the other half lives
Day 3: Two clowns visit ghost towns. And donkeys. Lots and lots of donkeys.
Day 4: Taking the dam road to Las Vegas, with a stop in a dam town for a little antiquing along the way.
Day 5: Scary Clowns and Elvis is in town.
Day 6: Old school tech day with pinball and fusees, and we totally ignore the possibility of Stranger Danger.
Day 7: “More, Please” at Red Rocks and CarsLand Vegas Style.
Day 8: This Circus has no clowns, but I hear the high wire act is pretty good.
Day 9: What kind of clowns go into Mexico just for cheap booze? That would be us.
Day 10: Capybaras and Condors and Red Pandas, oh my.
Day 11: California Mis-Adventure?
Day 12: Disneylast

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This all started because we were channel surfing.

A few years ago we sat bored in front of the tv on a rainy Saturday. This doesn’t happen often as Mike never sits still. Even when he’s sleeping he’s still moving. The cats find him decidedly un-cuddle-worthy on that account.

Basically, the only way I can get him to relax is to feed him massive quantities of beer and Chinese food.

I, on the other hand, am a cat’s dream – overly warm, with plenty of extra padding, and I can sit for hours without moving. At least someone appreciates my Zen-like skills.

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Day 10 – Capybaras, and Condors and Red Pandas, oh my.

One benefit to arriving anyplace 4 hours early is you get great parking. With exactly 3 other cars in the entire lot, we selected a spot right up front that would even have some shade later in the day.

Balboa Park is so cool. The architecture is a beautiful byproduct of the 1915 Panama-California Expo, which was held to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal – advertising the fact that San Diego was the first port of call vessels would encounter after the passage. The Spanish Colonial Revival design of most of the buildings created a look and feel that was unique to the area.

Theodore Roosevelt visited the Expo and said he felt that these “buildings of rare phenomenal taste and beauty” should be left as permanent additions to the park. Smart guy.

Although they look like stone, these structures were built of wood and plaster, with some of the detail work being sculpted from modeling clay.

The gardens here are amazing too. Everything is so lush and green, and it’s a gorgeous morning to enjoy it.